Portfolio site of artist Anna Masters

I spend quite a lot of my time with bees. Not intentionally – there’s a bee hive near my studio, and they often stray in and I loose a little bit of time most months trying to usher them back outside. But despite the prevalence of bees in my little corner of the world, the bee population is in quite serious trouble. Since 1900, the UK has lost 20 species of bee, and a further 35 are considered under threat of extinction. None are protected by law. Across Europe nearly one in ten wild bee species face extinction. And bees are important because they provide food for larger animals, and pollinate the majority of our plants. In fact, they’re so important to the pollination of British crops that without them we’d see an increase in our food prices.

So this month, for 12 Acts of Kindness, I’m raising money for Friends of the Earth – one of the greatest champions of the humble bee. They’ve been campaigning to raise awareness, reduce the use of bee-harming pesticides and to spread bee-friendly wildflowers across the country. But that’s not all. Friends of the Earth won the world’s first climate change law, and won commitment from local authorities for doorstep recycling.

In case you’re new to 12 Acts of Kindness, here’s a little about what it is and how it works…

Each month I will give away an art work to raise money for a different charity. If you donate to the charity you’ll be entered into a draw to win the art work at the end of the month. So far, eight art works have been won, and over £1,400 has been raised for various good causes.

For each £2 donated, you will be entered once into a draw to win an art work – so donate £10 and you’ll get five entries.

At the end of the month, I’ll draw a name and get in touch with the winner to arrange delivery.

And on my part, I will ensure that the art work you win will be of greater value than the total value of the amount donated. So if we raise £500, the art work on offer will be of a value of over £500.

Please make sure that you share your email address when you donate so that I can get in touch with you if you win!

That’s it really. Please feel free to share with your friends and contacts, it really does make a huge difference. And if you feel inspired to make a donation to this rather lovely charity, you can do so here: